The Manx Endometriosis Support Group has organised a walk to raise awareness for the women’s disease.

The walk, which will take place on Saturday, March 16 at 2.30pm, will see members of the support group dress in yellow and walk around St John’s, starting from Tynwald Hill and including the village’s Arboretum.

This will then be followed by tea and coffee in the Methodist Hall.

There are 116 members in the Manx Endometriosis Support Group, a Facebook page that was set up by endometriosis survivor Karen Bell while she was in recovery from specialist surgery as a result of the disease.

Talking about the group, Karen said: ‘We want to start raising awareness locally and working towards improving diagnosis and access to specialist care for all people with this condition in the island.

‘One in 10 people assigned female at birth have this condition, and the journey to diagnosis is often long and stressful as signs and symptoms are not recognised by health care professionals.’

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes.

The disease can affect women of any age, including teenagers. It’s a long-term condition, but specific treatments are able to help.

March is endometriosis awareness month, with its specialist UK charity using the tag line: ‘Could it be endometriosis?’

‘This is the aim of the charity “endometriosis UK” - to raise this awareness in the general public and health care professionals,’ added Karen.

‘It takes on average seven years to get a diagnosis. Then access to the specialist care is arduous and often involves further fighting. In many cases, people are reduced to seeking private care, and this is a worldwide issue.

‘The evidence is that this condition should be treated in specialist services as it is not purely a gynaecological condition - it is an all body condition that has no cure.’